Swiss watchmaker stocks rally as Trump dangles relief from steep 39% US tariff

While officials in Bern remain largely mum on talks with the US government on a possible cut to Switzerland’s steep tariff rate, stocks for Swiss watchmakers surged on Tuesday after President Donald Trump signalled a deal could be on the horizon.

Swatch, which has the highest US exposure because so much of its output is entirely Swiss-made, jumped by about 4.2%, while Richemont — makers of the Piaget watches Trump has often sported — gained roughly 2% on hopes the tariff reset will ease price pressure on US retailers and boost orders ahead of the holidays.

After brands front-loaded shipments in July ahead of the August tariff package from Washington, Swiss exports to the US collapsed by around 56% in September year-on-year.

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry has said that watch exports fell 3.1% year-on-year to CHF 2.0 billion (€2.15bn) in September.

The outlook became more optimistic after Trump made a statement to the White House pool late Monday, indicating that a deal was on the horizon.

“We’re working on a deal to get their tariffs a little bit lower, we are going to be working on something to help Switzerland along. We hit Switzerland very hard, we want Switzerland to remain successful… they’ve been a very good ally,” Trump said.

He rejected a question based on rumours that the Swiss tariff rate would go down to 15%, the most common percentage for countries that have already inked agreements with the US.

The Department of Economic Affairs in Bern have also confirmed a deal is in the works.

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The US is usually Switzerland’s number one watch market. In 2024, around CHF 4.3 (€4.6bn) billion of Swiss watch exports, about 16.8% of their total, were sold stateside, making it the leading destination by value. Since then, watch exports have been rerouted to the UK and Japan.

Rolex, by far the most recognizable Swiss brand in the US, is not publicly traded like Swatch and Richemont. Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour met with Trump on the sidelines of the US Open in September and reportedly chatted with him for hours after inviting him to the Rolex box, indicating that the legacy maker was also worried about the effects of the tariffs.

Multiple industry trackers reported that US sticker prices climbed in 2025 with low single-digit increases on many steel and rolesor models and larger high-single to double-digit increases on gold models since January.

At the time, Dufour was criticized by US Senator Elizabeth Warren for trying to curry favor with the president via private favours.

Beyond Switzerland, LVMH — owners of TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith — have also used their seemingly close relationship to the White House to push for de-escalation. CEO Bernard Arnault urged Europe to calm trade tensions with Washington and floated expanding US production to mitigate tariff risk.